I recently read that there are some distros that have a different file system hierarchy like gobolinux and was under the impression that there might be more distros similar to gobolinux.
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NandaApr 2 '12 at 19:40

1

I think checking /etc is more portable than assuming an ext filesystem. Or just check for the oldest directory in /.
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KevinApr 3 '12 at 14:21

1

Just for completeness, I'll note that the output of ls shows the time when it is less than six months old, and the year when it is more than six months.
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Random832Apr 3 '12 at 17:56

@Kevin if you unpack an archive while preserving permissions, the oldest directory/file can be way older than the system install date.
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scaiJul 30 '12 at 13:19

2 Answers
2

If the assumption is that you have an ext{2,3,4} filesystem, and you formatted the root filesystem when you installed the OS (and didn't do upgrades from another OS without a wipe), you can use dumpe2fs: